


Only Stars Fall (And When They Fall, They Burn)

by badgerling



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Anakin Skywalker, Dark Obi-Wan Kenobi, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Seduction to the Dark Side
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 15:45:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11039265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerling/pseuds/badgerling
Summary: The Republic has fallen. The Jedi are traitors. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and giving in to temptation is only the first step. In the end, the Dark Side burns, and falling is the easiest thing in the world.





	Only Stars Fall (And When They Fall, They Burn)

**Author's Note:**

> Lucasfilm owns all characters. No infringement intended.

Obi-Wan doesn't know what lead him to Padme's apartment. He should have gone to the Temple. He should have checked on the others. He should have made sure than any other survivors were rescued, saved, taken care of. Instead, he heads to the opposite end of the capitol, and he steps into an apartment that is ominously quiet. He doesn't know what or who he expected to find.

He hopes that Anakin had not been at the Chancellor's side when he crowned himself. He hopes that Padme had the sense to flee and to regroup, to find safety somewhere else. He hopes Anakin went with her, but that, he knows, is a foolish hope. Because he can feel his friend through the Force, knows he is on this planet, in this city. And knows he is alive. He also knows that that means he avoided the clones somehow, and he doesn't want to think about just how Anakin managed to accomplish that.

He can guess.

He does not want to.

The apartment is still eerily quiet, and even Obi-Wan is holding his breath, something he releases slowly once he realizes it. He pushes out with his mind, searching, trying to find some inkling of someone in this too quiet place, and when the Force brushes up against someone else, someone angry, someone hurt, someone...lost? It catches him off-guard. It takes his breath too. He follows that feeling across the apartment, through the alcove to the closed door of the bedroom. He runs his hand over the console on the side, not expecting it to unlock for him, not knowing why Padme or Anakin would code him into it, but the lock releases, the console beeps, and the door slides up.

Anakin is lying in a heap at the foot of the bed. He's shirtless, half in shadow, his head bowed, and the sound he makes is half a moan, half a whimper, and it's not one that Obi-Wan is familiar with from his friend. He spreads the Force out for a moment, searching for whoever attacked Anakin, but they are truly alone in the apartment. He rushes to Anakin's side, his hands gripping his shoulders and lifting him. There's a flash then, something like red eyes glowing in the dark, but Obi-Wan blinks, Anakin's head drops forward, and it is just a trick of the light because Anakin's eyes are the same cold blue they've always been when he looks back up at Obi-Wan.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan pushes on Anakin's shoulders, lifting him slightly, trying to get a good look at him, but there are no outward injuries, no bruises, no blood, but any other questions disappear as Anakin blinks at him, first with confusion, then with relief, as his arms wrap around Obi-Wan, and he buries his head against Obi-Wan's shoulder. He's shivering. Or maybe merely shaking. Obi-Wan can't tell, but he pulls back, pulling off his cloak in order to wrap it around Anakin's shoulders for added warmth. He rubs warmth into Anakin's arms, but when Anakin presses closer, his face burrowing against Obi-Wan's neck, Obi-Wan wraps his arms around Anakin's shoulders to hold him to him.

"Anakin?" he says, hoping to get some kind of actual response, but Anakin only twists his fingers in Obi-Wan's tunic as he tightens his grip.

"The clones..." he says finally, but Anakin doesn't finish whatever he was about to say, but his mouth is still open against Obi-Wan's skin, his breath scalding over his pulse point, and Obi-Wan wonders if the trauma and loss that they've both apparently suffered, if the tearing of the Force has made him more sensitive because that touch of Anakin's mouth, the wet and the heat, it makes Obi-Wan shiver, his heart pound, and his breathing pant. His hand slides up to tangle in Anakin's hair, and he lies to himself. It's only to hold Anakin closer, to offer comfort, nothing more.

"The Chancellor...he claims the Jedi tried to kill him, set our own clones against us. We've lost...." Obi-Wan takes a shaky breath then, "A lot. We've lost too many. We need to get to the Temple," he says finally, but Anakin doesn't respond, and neither one of them moves from their spot on the floor.

The only sound in the apartment is their breathing, and it is almost...meditative, calming, a moment in the storm where the Force is giving them time to recover to regroup. His fingers trace small circles over the cloak he placed over Anakin's shoulders, even that small moment having a soothing effect. On Obi-Wan at least. Anakin's hands move as well, though not in circles. Instead they tug gently at Obi-Wan's shirt, pulling it enough that Anakin can press fingers that feel too warm, almost feverish, against the small of Obi-Wan's back.

"Anakin." It's not a question this time, but it's not quite an order to stop. It's...well, it's a request. An acknowledgement. Anakin doesn't stop, though, and Obi-Wan knows it's because Obi-Wan hadn't told him to stop. He still doesn't, not even when Anakin's hand presses flat against Obi-Wan's skin, sliding up the curve of his back, pushing his tunic up as he does so.

"I've been to the Temple, Master," Anakin says, his mouth still against Obi-Wan's neck, his friend now a solid weight pressed against his front even as his hands urge him to press forward, to arch his back, to lean into whatever this is. There is a moment where Obi-Wan's instincts scream at him, tell him that something is very definitely wrong, that something is wrong with Anakin, he reminds himself of the anger and hate he had felt earlier, but his hands don't listen to that instinct as they bunch in the fabric of the cloak, peeling it off of Anakin and pushing it to the floor.

"The Temple is gone. The council is....scattered." Anakin's voice is soft, muffled by Obi-Wan's skin. "The world has ended."

"We can put it back together, Anakin," Obi-Wan says, but the words feel more automatic. He doesn't reach out through the Force for the Temple, for the Council, for any survivors. He fears what he would find.

"No." With that word, Anakin lifts his head meeting Obi-Wan's eyes evenly. He no longer looks like the victim of an attack. He no longer seems lost. "It's over. The Order is finished."

"Anak-..." Obi-Wan doesn't get to finish what he wanted to say because Anakin moves forward, pressing his mouth to Obi-Wan's. The heat that had been scalding his skin scorches his mouth, and he doesn't react at first, but the fire and heat and the pure need he can feel coming from Anakin are hard to resist, and Obi-Wan melts into the kiss, letting his mouth open, inviting that touch, that first taste, of Anakin's tongue. He only breaks the kiss when he finds he needs to breathe, and even then, he can't get enough air. He's panting, short little gasps against Anakin's mouth as he presses his forehead against Anakin's. "Anakin. No," he says. He tries to make it an order. It comes off as almost pleading instead.

"Do the rules matter anymore, Master?" They had mattered for so long, and Obi-Wan had clung to them for most of his life, but Anakin presses forward again, kissing him again. It's more teeth than tongue this time, and Obi-Wan hisses out a breath as Anakin's teeth catch his lower lip and tug. His hands move from the back of Obi-Wan's tunic, sliding to the front of it, pulling at the fabric again, pulling it away from Obi-Wan's body until the cloth is open, and Anakin can press his bare chest against Obi-Wan's.

"We cannot...you must not...." Obi-Wan finds it difficult to form actual sentences. Anakin still feels warm, feverish, like there's a fire inside him that will burn the whole world to the ground. He wants to ask about the Temple. He doesn't.

"We can. I will. I am allowed to want," Anakin says, like he hasn't spent most of his life already questioning those carved in stone Jedi rules. He doesn't give Obi-Wan a chance to argue as his hands move to Obi-Wan's shoulders, pushing him back slightly, enough that Anakin can crawl more freely into his lap. "You...are allowed to want, Master."

He does want. Of course he does. He can't hide that fact, not from Anakin, not right then, not with him in his lap. Obi-Wan is too warm right then, and he feels as feverish as Anakin does, like a fire that has spread until it pools in Obi-Wan's belly. Anakin shifts his weight, and Obi-Wan groans as he feels Anakin's cock pressing hard against his own through two layers of cloth. He swears he can feel it pulsing against him, and his hands take hold of Anakin's hips. Trying to hold him in place, but all he really does is pull Anakin's hips down against his own, rocking him down against him.

Anakin's eyes flutter shut, and he presses his head against Obi-Wan's shoulder again. Anakin's hands don't stop moving though as they slip between their bodies, deft fingers brushing against the bulge in Obi-Wan's pants. He grips the length of Obi-Wan's cock in the cloth, stroking and massaging him as best he can. The sound Obi-Wan makes is guttural. Feral. Desperate.

He uses his hold on Anakin's hips to push him off of him.

That should have been the end of it, but Obi-Wan follows Anakin, capturing his mouth again, deepening the kiss. It's hungrier than before, the heat that has flowed through them both driving Obi-Wan on. He can't bare to have Anakin away from his hands, can't bare to not be touching him. When the kiss breaks this time, it's Anakin who pushes him away. Sort of. Much like Obi-Wan, he can't seem to keep his hands off of Obi-Wan in some fashion, even as he twists his body slightly, pressing against Obi-Wan and reaches up to the night stand.

Anakin digs in the drawer for a moment before pulling out a small vial of golden liquid. Obi-Wan recognizes it instantly. Even almost asks about it. But there's things that Obi-Wan still doesn't want to know, still doesn't need to pry into, and Anakin's sex life with Padme Amidala is one of them. Anakin passes him the vial, and Obi-Wan holds the synthetic oil in his hand, gripping it tightly, warming it with his body heat.

Anakin settles back to the floor, lifting his hips as he shoves his pants down, wincing a little as he pulls the pants over his cock. He smiles then, breathless, like after a great battle or argument. "You're not going to ask?" Obi-Wan narrows his eyes, tilts his head, before realizing Anakin is asking about the lube.

Obi-Wan laughs, then, shaking his head as he leans in. He kiss the corner of Anakin's mouth, the corner of his smile, thinking that it's been so long since Anakin has smiled, thinking that maybe they shouldn't be smiling when they were both betraying everything they've held dear. Anakin seems to sense his doubts, capturing Obi-Wan's mouth fully as he reaches down and takes the lube from Obi-Wan. He sets it to the side before he breaks the kiss.

When Anakin pushes Obi-Wan back this time it's only so that he can turn over, placing his hands and knees on the carpeted floor. He reaches back and takes the lube only to pass it back to Obi-Wan who takes it without another word. He doesn't move, though, his attention is on Anakin, on the sight of him, hands and knees spread, ass fully on display, and Obi-Wan runs his hand over the curve of Anakin's ass. They both shiver at that touch, at the knowledge of what's coming, of what they were about to do.

Obi-Wan finally moves back, shifting his body enough that he can push his own pants down to his thighs. His cock is red and throbbing, achingly hard and leaking precome already. He takes the vial of oil, opens it, and spreads the lubricant over his fingers and cock. He moans deep in his chest, the sound vibrating through him, through the Force, and he swears Anakin gives an answering whimper as he plants his hands and knees more firmly on the floor.

Obi-Wan reaches forward, fingers slick with the oil as he strokes them over Anakin's entrance. He doesn't push in just yet. He simply enjoys the feeling, the heat, and the sound Anakin makes when his breath hitches and Obi-Wan pushes one finger deep into him. Anakin's fingers grip the carpet, and Obi-Wan can see his knuckles turning white as he presses his face against the floor.

Obi-Wan loses track of time. He loses track of a lot of things. The only thing that matters is Anakin, the rising, feverish heat between them, and the way Anakin's ass clenches around his cock when Obi-Wan finally ( _finally_ ) pushes into him slowly. After that it's a haze. There's nothing else in the galaxy but him and Anakin and this moment, the thrust of his hips into Anakin and Anakin's thrusts back against him once he adjusted to the girth of Obi-Wan, once the pain had mixed more evenly with the pleasure.

Obi-Wan's hand finds Anakin's cock, and he strokes him, letting his thrusts into Anakin push his cock into his fist, and Obi-Wan has no idea how long it takes. How long it takes for Anakin's body to clench tight around him, his back bowing, his head pressed against the floor, as he screams and comes, coating the carpet beneath him.

Obi-Wan doesn't try to hold back after that, he buries his head against Anakin's shoulder, growling, "Anakin, Anakin, Anakin!" against his shoulder as he comes.

It doesn't stop there. Not for what must be hours. Somewhere in there, their clothes are completely removed, the blankets are kicked off the bed, and Obi-Wan watches Anakin ride his cock, and all he wants is _more._ All of it. He isn't sure he'll ever get enough. Eventually, though, they both collapse in a tangle of sweat-slick limbs, and they sleep, curled up together.

_The way it always should have been,_ Obi-Wan thinks just before sleep claims him.

Hours later, maybe, or days, they're still in bed, and Anakin is warm, and Obi-Wan curls into that warmth. He's unsure if it's artificial, a byproduct of the mechanical arm, or if it's something more sinister, that that extra warmth, that extra heat that drove Obi-Wan crazy is a product of the Dark Side flowing through his friend. _Through both of them,_ his mind helpfully supplies, but Obi-Wan shakes that off as he pulls away. They had kicked the sheet off sometime in the night when they were a tangle of limbs, so it's easy enough for Obi-Wan to roll his body to the edge of the bed.

His presses his feet against the floor, the rug cool beneath his toes, but that chill doesn't chase away the heat that still made his skin feel raw. He doesn't think he's fallen, that the Dark Side is tempting ( _Very,_ he thinks as he looks back at Anakin's still form) but that he is stronger than his emotions. He has been trained to be stronger than his emotions. He presses his hands back against the bed to push himself to his feet, every muscle in his body complaining and telling him to curl back up with Anakin and go back to sleep. He's almost off the bed when Anakin catches his wrist in his metal fist.

"Anakin. I thought you were asleep."

"You move too much, Master," he says, his voice cloudy with sleep as he releases Obi-Wan's wrist and rolls more completely onto his side. Obi-Wan's throat goes dry at the sight, his former apprentice half in shadow, neon lights dancing on his skin, and Obi-Wan doesn't even try to stop himself from letting his gaze rake over Anakin's body, following the lines of shadows to where his cock rests, heavy and hard already, despite everything they had already done.

"You had no complaints about moving before, Anakin," he says, a smile playing across his face, and Anakin laughs, low and happy, as Obi-Wan licks his lips. He studies Anakin, torn once again by the urge to wrap himself in Anakin and the need to plan, to plot, to figure a way out of this. "Stop looking at me like that, Anakin," he says, his voice soft. It is is not as much of an order as Obi-Wan wants it to be.

As tempting as Anakin looks, Obi reaches down and takes Anakin's wrist, feeling the metal flexing and moving under his fingers. He gingerly removes Anakin's hand, and steps away from the bed. He looks around for his clothes, trying to keep his eyes away from Anakin, knowing that if he kept looking he would give in to temptation and crawl back into bed. But there are things that need to be done, plans that need to be made, and ways to find off this planet without the Chancellor finding them.

Hurt flashes across Anakin's face as Obi-Wan pulls away, though, and Obi-Wan reaches forward to take hold of the side of Anakin's neck, pulling him up and into his arms. It is only supposed to be a hug, but his mouth finds Anakin's easily, and he forces himself to break that kiss before it get too deep, too hungry, too desperate. He presses his forehead against Anakin's, hoping that's enough to keep him sane. It isn't. They're both panting, sharing smalls breaths as they're both desperate for air at the same time Obi-Wan yearns for another taste.

"You can't leave, I won't allow it," Anakin says, his tone stubborn, his voice barely a whisper. It's not an order, but Obi-Wan can still feel the force and the fear and the anger behind it.

"I'll return, you know that, Anakin, we're always stronger together," Obi-Wan says, taking his hands off Anakin's waist and pressing them against his shoulders. Trying to put a barrier between them, that also doesn't work. Touching Anakin in general does nothing to soothe Obi-Wan's heated skin. "But we need supplies, a ship, I need to check the Temple, and once I return, we will leave. Together." Those words seem to calm Anakin, and he sits back finally, his hand catching Obi-Wan's again as he does so.

"To find Padme. That is our first objective," Anakin says, and Obi-Wan has to swallow back a sudden flare of jealousy. That's not an emotion he had ever experienced, not in relation to what he had known was going on with Anakin and Padme, but there it is now, jealous that leads into anger, and for a very, very brief second, Obi-Wan _hates_ Padme. Anakin is his, not hers. He swallows heavily, choking that back, but the emotions still make Anakin flinch, his eyes narrowed, and his grip tightens on Obi-Wan's wrist. "She's mine, Master, and she has my son." All of that is logical, Obi-Wan knows it, just as he knows that if the Chancellor knew that Padme was pregnant, he would hunt her down as well.

"We'll make a plan when I return, I swear it," Obi-Wan says. It's the best he can do, the best he can promise. He's not sure if Anakin is in the best state to find Padme either, but he's also not sure if that's the truth or simply Obi-Wan convincing himself to find another way to keep Anakin to himself. Whatever the case, protecting a wayward senator by keeping Anakin away from her is an easy lie to tell himself. Anakin nods at Obi-Wan's words, releasing his wrist and settling back against the bed.

"When you return, Master," Anakin says, and Obi-Wan leans in and presses another brief kiss to Anakin's lips. He forces himself to step away, to look for the clothes that were shed and tossed away.

Once he finds those discarded clothes and dresses himself, all while dutifully refusing to look in Anakin's direction (because that leads to desire which leads to temptation which leads to want which leads to nothing truly important getting done), Obi-Wan's first stop is to a clothing merchant. There he buys several sets of clothing at a vastly inflated price he assumes is because of the fall of the Republic, a stark reminder that while he was wrapped up in Anakin, the world really had ended. Or at least changed.

Next is a ship. He has transports of his own, the Jedi Council has transports, Anakin has transports, but those are all easily traced and tracked, and Obi-Wan knows they are not ready to face what this new Empire has in its arsenal, not yet. Later, once they had time to plan and plot and lay traps of their own, they will take this fight to the Chancellor and his Clone Army. He once again pays far too much for a transport that will likely barely get them a few systems away, but it'll get them away, and that is what matters. He leaves the ship where it was, directing the dock owner to send the ship to an abandoned dock a short distance away from Padme's apartment.

Then he travels to the Jedi Temple in his own transport, the one that is clearly registered in his name, the one he isn't hiding, but as he nears the temple, discovers that the haze covering the city comes from the still smoldering temple ruins, Obi-Wan wishes he hadn't come. The feeling of souls snuffed out (children, younglings, those far too young to know what was happening), of loss and despair, and above else the Dark Side hanging over the temple like a cloud, it is almost too much and Obi-Wan's hands shake, and he has to take them away from the ship's controls before he pitches the small fighter into a roll.

He flies as close as he dares, closer than he probably should, and he can see the blaster marks on the stone walls, the clones still patrolling the ruins, and dread settles into his stomach. Obi-Wan lands his starfighter is the only spot that is free of ruble, bodies, and is also out of sight of the clone troppers. His plan hinges on him making it out of this trip alive, on making it back to his ship in one piece. There is a chance, there's always a chance, that it will be discovered and that he will have to return to Anakin on foot. Because the transport he had purchased needs to stay hidden, to stay safe, to serve them both to get away. He waits until he hears the chatter of the communicator indicate that patrols are on the other side of the Temple, then it is easy enough to slip out of his ship and into the now dark Temple.

He uses a hidden entrance, one of the man entrances and exits that the Jedi had kept secret. Just in case. Just in case something like this happened.

He hopes some managed to use the escape routes.

He doubts it, though.

Attacks were expected. Betrayal was not.

Standing in the wide open vestibule of the Temple, it feels empty. Obi-Wan doesn't need to reach out with the Force to know that either. There is no sound of actual people from the interior of the building, only the distant ping of water or some other liquid hitting the stone floor. The clones remain outside, holding the Temple for...whoever comes to take it now.

Obi-Wan finally reaches out with the Force, searching, clinging to some distant hope that someone, somewhere might be still alive, hidden, safe. There's nothing. The clones are outside because they have already taken the Temple by force. Obi-Wan pulls the hood of his cloak up, hoping it will keep him disguised from the many cameras that watch the halls, even while knowing that he stands out, that he will be noticed eventually, but hopefully not yet, not before he gets what he came into the enemy's territory for.

He heads to the records room without hesitating. He needs confirmation. He needs to know if what he suspects is true.

He wants to believe that Anakin is a victim, attacked and left in Padme's apartment, but that doesn't sit well with him. There is doubt needling in his mind, questions about Anakin, about the Chancellor, about how close they had become.

He finds out Anakin's new name on the second holovid. The clones fall easily into calling him Lord Vader. Easily into talking about the Emperor and the Jedi traitors.

The fourth holovid gives him the confirmation he didn't really want.

He doesn't watch all of it. He doesn't watch children die. He doesn't need to. The ignition of Anakin's blue lightsaber in the dark training room was enough. And betrayal...Obi-Wan finds that betrayal burns as much as desire, as temptation, as want, and betrayal bleeds just as easily into anger. He pauses the holovid, staring at the still image for several minutes, knowing that his time is growing short, his fighter will be discovered if he is not careful.

Obi-Wan takes the holovid out of the recorder and slips it into his robes before he leaves the temple the same way he entered. He slips into his fighter, but before he takes off, he pauses. He stares at the temple in silence, mourning, the anger he feels burning in his gut silence for the moment by grief. Finally, he records and transmits a message, a warning telling all the other Jedi not to come to the teample, then he leaves, but not fast enough, but that is the point, isn't it?

Soon enough it's a dogfight, and not long after that, Obi-Wan's transport, the one registered in his name, the one he wasn't really hiding, goes down in a ball of fire.

Obi-Wan jumps clear of the blast, of course, landing on one of the free air platforms in the city. As planned. After all, Obi-Wan had never been the Republic's best pilot, certainly not better than the clones who had turned on the Jedi. He was never expected to make it out. Let the clones report back that Obi-Wan Kenobi died in the skies above temple.

Obi watches the clones return to the temple, and then he sets out on the long trip back toward Padme's apartment, back to Anakin, and it is anger that fuels him on. It's a combination of hijacked transports, jumping from platform to platform, and just plain walking. It takes him the rest of the day, and his anger should have diminished when he arrives back at Padme's door.

It hasn't.

He's shaking, just slightly, trembling with the anger he feels coursing through him. He has no real confirmation that Anakin was behind the attack on the temple, that anyone but the Emperor was responsible, but he _knows_. The Force shows him the truth, and he knows that his friend, the man he fucked into the floor, the bed, against the wall, has fallen, is a traitor, and is attempting to lure Obi-Wan to the Dark Side. He waits until the door opens, and the moment he steps into the room, Anakin is there, both in the Force and physically in front of him, everywhere, Obi-Wan can't help but feel him, feel his own heightened, feverish emotions bleeding into Anakin's. It's driving him mad.

Obi-Wan considers using the Force to push and hold Anakin against the wall, but he doesn't trust his use of the Force right then. He might go too far, he might hurt him, and while he wants to hurt Anakin, wants to fight him, wants to kill him, some deep part of Obi-Wan is trying not to, so it's Obi-Wan's hands that grip Anakin's hips and force him back against the wall. Hard. Hard enough to knock the air out of him.

"You led the attack on the Temple." Anakin doesn't reply, he simply presses his head back against the wall, lifting his chin, and dares to look defiant. Obi-Wan slams Anakin against the wall again, just once, before he steps back. Not far, but enough that he is no longer touching Anakin. Because underneath the anger is that same desire, the same need to take Anakin because Anakin is _his_. "How could...they were _children_ , Anakin."

"The Emperor...the Jedi are traitors to the Republic," Anakin says, his voice utterly, eerily calm, but Obi-Wan knows, he knows Anakin's heart isn't in those words. Obi-Wan shakes his head.

"I've heard the speech, Anakin, spare me." Obi-Wan stalks forward, but he holds himself back, forcing himself to remain out of arm's' reach. If he touches Anakin again, then the anger and the lust and the desperate need he feels for Anakin bleeds together and Obi-Wan won't get the answers he wants.

"He wanted me to kill you." Anakin is still pressed back against the wall, his hands pressed flat against it. Obi-Wan snorts. The muscles in Anakin's jaw tense at that. "He wanted me to go after the Separatist leaders, knowing you would find a way to follow. That _you_ would hunt _me_."

"To save you, yes, I would have," Obi-Wan says, but that's not the whole truth. If Anakin had gone after the Separatists, if Obi-Wan had known about the Temple, there is no way he could have saved him. _There's no way to save him now,_ Obi-Wan thinks as he shakes his head. His body moves, involuntarily taking steps toward Anakin again.

"I didn't need to be saved. The Emperor is going to build a new republic, a new empire, a stronger government, he is going to save the galaxy. Why can't you see that, Master?" His words are pleading, but his tone is not, and Obi-Wan only sighs at him.

"Stop calling me 'Master', you are not mine, Anakin." Obi-Wan shakes his head, but he doesn't miss the flash of hurt in Anakin's eyes at that. "Why didn't you go? You belong to the Emperor, don't you? He gave you a new name and everything. Lord _Vader_." Obi-Wan sneers at that name, and Anakin flinches.

"I came looking for Padme," Anakin says, but he says it with a note of defiance, like he wants to stroke Obi-Wan's jealousy, wants Obi-Wan to know he's not important. Obi-Wan is too close now, and his hand comes up to Anakin's shoulder, pushing him hard against the wall one more time. "And I knew you would come here."

"Why?" Because Anakin hasn't given him a real answer. The Emperor had given him a mission, orders, a name. He should have gone. The Dark Side is a demanding thing. Disobeying it isn't smart.

"You have to ask that? After everything...." There's a vulnerability in Anakin's voice, he sounds lost, almost afraid, but Obi-Wan doesn't believe it. He presses himself close again, one hand remaining on his shoulder, the other coming down to Anakin's hip.

"Did you want to kill me or did you want me to fall with you?" Obi-Wan's mouth is against Anakin's ear, his words a whisper, and he feels Anakin shudder at the feeling. He doesn't answer, he simply lifts his head and kisses Obi-Wan. There's a hunger there now, the anger buried beneath it. Desire and desperation taste good on Anakin's mouth, and Obi-Wan isn't sure he wants to stop. Ever. Anakin breaks the kiss first, and he drops to his knees without even needing Obi-Wan to force him.

Obi-Wan is nowhere near gentle this time. He wasn't gentle the first time he fucked Anakin, but this time is different. Neither one of them are gentle, it's a fight more than a fuck, and they leave bruises on each other. Bruises and bites and marks of ownership, and by the time they're done, hours later, Obi-Wan has made his choice. They are better together. They're stronger together. They will stay together. _Mercy to anyone who tries to separate them,_ Obi-Wan swears, as he curls into Anakin again, keeping him tightly against him.

When he wakes up, an entire day has passed, and Obi-Wan dresses himself in the new clothes he purchased on his trip to the temple. All black. Something subconscious. He moves to the large window in the bedroom, watching the city function as it always had, no one seeming to react to the fact that a republic had fallen, that an empire had risen.

"Alderaan." Obi-Wan doesn't acknowledge that word or the voice that said it. Not immediately. "Master." A demand now, and Obi-Wan sighs and turns to face Anakin.

"I told you not to use that title, not anymore," he says instead of responding to anything else Anakin said. "Not while you still belong to Palpatine."

"I don't belong to the Emperor." Anakin has yet to call Palpatine by anything but that title. He hadn't even called him 'Chancellor' since the announcement. Obi-Wan doesn't respond. He doesn't need to. It's a lie, an obvious one, and one they both recognize as such. Anakin huffs out a breath, and Obi-Wan can feel the impatience and the rage boiling off his former apprentice. "Alderaan."

"What about it, Anakin?" Obi-Wan's voice is calm, reasoned, normal, but the feelings he can feel coming from Anakin are needling their way under his skin. He's too warm suddenly, his breathing shallow, and his vision is growing black at the edges. He moves from the window, covering the distance to Anakin in three short steps. His fingers slide easily into Anakin's hair, and he cradles his head almost gently. Anakin bends forward, his forehead almost touching Obi-Wan's, and in that moment, they are sharing breaths, those same short breaths. It does nothing to calm the rage.

Obi-Wan's fingers curl in Anakin's hair then, and he pulls. Sharply. Hard enough for Anakin's head to jerk back. When he looks back at Obi-Wan, he's calmer, both of them are, and they are breathing normally. Anakin's eyes are dialated, though, and Obi-Wan urges Anakin forward with that hand still at the back of his head. Anakin rests his forehead against Anakin's shoulder.

"Calm yourself, Anakin, calm yourself and tell me why you're concerned about Alderaan." Obi-Wan makes it just a suggestion, not an order, and it takes several minutes of the two of them breathing in synch for Anakin to answer.

"Padme. She's gone somewhere, you know she has, and she has allies from the Senate on Alderaan. They would keep her safe, shield her from me, shield my _son_ from me."

Obi-Wan laughs then, the sound loud and harsh, and it makes Anakin pull back. Or he tries to pull back, but Obi-Wan's hand is steel against the back of Anakin's head, holding him in place, even as his other arms comes around Anakin's waist. "She knows you as well as I do. She knows that would be the second place you would think of, and Naboo would be the first," he says, finally releasing Anakin to step away from him. "She's not so foolish to go where you would follow, or to go anywhere that would put others in danger, I know her that well."

Obi-Wan is lying. It an easy lie, one he doesn't even think about, Anakin isn't wrong. Bail Organa would shelter Padme, give her whatever she needed, sow the seeds of rebellion against the Empire before it's even out of it's infancy. Obi-Wan has no doubts about where Padme would have gone. He is simply better at lying than Anakin. It's something they will have to deal with eventually, of course. Anakin will not rest until he has found his wife and child, and Obi-Wan will go along, steering his former apprentice away from the obvious places. That is as obvious as anything has ever been in Obi-Wan's life.

"Then where do you suggest, Master. You know best," and there's that roll of emotions again, the rage that was always simmering under Anakin's skin boiling over now, spilling across Obi-Wan, leaving his skin raw and tingling. He doesn't correct the title this time either. Nor does he try to calm Anakin down. He turns his back on Anakin, moving back to the window to watch the city, his eyes focusing on the distant plumes of smoke from a city burning, in chaos.

"Tatooine." Obi-Wan's mouth curves into a smirk as he says that word, turning enough to look over his shoulder to catch Anakin's reaction. Anakin clenches his fists, his eyes narrowed as he watches Obi-Wan in turn. Obi-Wan merely shrugs. "She knows how much you hate it. She knows the memories there, the ghosts, and you do have family there. They could help her care for the child." There is only a small slice of guilt at the thought of putting the remaining Lars family in danger. It is easily squelched.

Anakin's eyes remain narrowed, and Obi-Wan can feel the indecision in him. He turns to face Anakin fully, and he holds one hand out to Anakin. "It is a place to start." Anakin doesn't respond immediately, still deciding for himself if Obi-Wan is persuasive enough. Eventually, though, as Obi-Wan knew he would, Anakin nods and takes Obi-Wan's hand, allowing himself to be pulled back into Obi-Wan's arms.

"But right now we need to run, Anakin," Obi-Wan says, his fingers curling in Anakin's hair again as he cradles him against his chest. His lips as dangerously close to Anakin's ear, his words barely a whisper, though there is no danger of them being overheard, not here, not in Padme's old apartment. "You've betrayed your Master, you haven't killed me, you are a traitor as much as me." Once again Obi-Wan's words are supposedly be calming, but there is a spike of anger that slices through both of them.

"He's not my master." The words are muffled against Obi-Wan's shoulder, and the brush of Anakin's breath over his skin makes him shiver and his fingers tighten. Which makes Anakin's breath quicken. It's a dangerous cycle, and Obi-Wan should cling to what remains of his code, of his Light, but he doesn't pull himself away.

"He named you, Anakin." A name Obi-Wan will not use. Cannot use. Anakin laughs, a sound that's cold and bitter, but it vibrates a kind of warmth through Obi-Wan just the same. "He will hunt us. We need to go."

Anakin relaxes against him as he pulls back. Not far, his arms are still locked around Obi-Wan. "To Tatooine." It's not a request or a question. It's very, dangerously, close to an order.

The anger spikes again, threading through everything Obi-Wan is. He will not be ordered to do anythin-... He takes a deep breath, exhaling, clamping down on those emotions, still trying to cling to what's left of his morality, but he nods and says, "To Tatooine."

And the downward spiral of emotion and want and anger and _need_ gets a little tighter as Anakin smiles, and Obi-Wan pulls him to him and into a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> In this alternate reality, Padme survives giving birth, and she gets to raise her twins and found the Rebellion. As it should have been.


End file.
